I need some guidance on what to do on my 2009 MacPro. The intro currently loads into a grey screen with audio playing. I don’t know what the issue is and if it can be fixed.
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
OS: 10.14 Mojave
Processor: 2x2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 24 GB 1066 Mhz DDR3
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7970 3072 MB
I got the notice to check for OS update. I can’t update it as is without 3rd party help if it’s an OS update issue to run the game.
The graphics card is below minimum spec for Shadowlands, and its drivers haven’t been updated for years now (the parts pertaining to the GPU you currently have). Your machine should play it decently enough with an updated AMD GPU if you tailor your settings to the configuration.
While the 7970 is Metal compatible, Blizzard won’t be able to do anything about the lacking driver updates, so you’re going to run into a lot of issues like this unless you update your graphics card. Shadowlands changed quite a bit under the hood and actual GPU requirements did go up this time.
Thanks for the reply!!! Much appreciated in how to think and what to do. It’s an old computer but I like it and don’t want to replace it yet when Mac seems to be going into a hardware and OS transition with things.
same issue here. hope there’s a fix to this… i have a 2015 mac its working perfect for me and had no problem running wow until today. not planning on buying a new computer just to play shadowlands… wish i saw this coming before purchasing the expansion tho
Update status: I’ve gotten my graphics card updated from AMD Radeon HD 7970 3072 MB to Radeon RX 580 8192 MB; also updated the hard drive to 1 TB SSD by 3rd party Mac repair shop.
WoW still loads up in grey screen with background music playing. Going to try getting my OS downgraded to OS 10.13.XX to see if that’ll solve the problem and update what WoW is wanting since I can’t upgrade beyond 10.14 base OS.
10/19/2020 @ 5 pm
Final status update - I had my hard drive wiped clean and converted my OS 10.14 back down to OS 10.13.6. WoW now loads and plays just fine. So my out of date, 11 year old Mac Pro, can still play WoW with a little upgrade. I hope this will last me a few years of enjoyment until after the uncertainty with ARM processors pass.
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
Processor: 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 24 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
Startup Disk: 1 TB Macintosh SSD
Graphics Card: Radeon RX 580 8192 MB
Based on the graphic card and hard drive upgrade, the graphic setting for WoW is at 5 out of 10 setting. Pretty good for an 11 year old computer and not having top notch everything.